Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

Bryan Fischer Award Nominee: NOM

The Bryan Fischer award is given to those who display a staggering lack of self-awareness and are utterly oblivious to their own contradictions. The response of the National Organization for Marriage to the attack on the Family Research Council office is well deserving of that award. You may well want to double up on the irony meters for this one:

“NOM has always condemned all violence and vilification connected to our ongoing national debate about the meaning and definition of marriage,” Brown stated. “For too long national gay rights groups have intentionally marginalized and ostracized pro-marriage groups and individuals by labeling them as ‘hateful’ and ‘bigoted’ — such harmful and dangerous labels deserve no place in our civil society and NOM renews its call today for gay rights groups and the Southern Poverty Law Center to withdraw such incendiary rhetoric from a debate that involves millions of good Americans,” added Brown.

Seriously? These people spend their entire lives — virtually all of their time, money and energy — working to deny equal rights to gay people and justifying it on the most irrational grounds imaginable. They are always claiming that allowing gay people to get married is tantamount to child abuse, that it will somehow — for mysterious, special reasons they can never explain rationally — undermine society, destroy the institution of marriage and even destroy civilization itself. But now they suddenly want to come out against “incendiary rhetoric”? Give me a break.

So NOM and other like-minded organizations can say the most dehumanizing things about gay people, including the “fact” that we will destroy the fabric of society, but we can’t call them hateful for it because they would be “incendiary”? When these organizations stop devoting their energy and resources to depriving me of my rights and sense of humanity, when they no longer compare me to a pedophile, when I’m no longer said to be responsible for the impending destruction of society, then I’ll take their calls for more more civil discussion seriously. Until then, they ARE hateful, and I WILL call them as I see their agenda.